Jump to content

Lowes is struggling


DR99

Recommended Posts

3 hours ago, comp56 said:

I wrote the lengthy post above on this very subject, but can't blame anyone for missing the link in the wall of text. ☺

 

We can only hope that this is a proactive business move that is designed to streamline Lowe's operations, as opposed to the reactive measures taken by Sears in recent years.  Unlike the latter chain, Lowe's seems to stay fairly busy, well stocked, and with newer stores, technology, and more helpful associates.  On the contrary, Sears mostly stuck with anchor locations in malls built 30-50 years ago, has archaic ('90's?) checkouts in most locations, and hard to find associates that are often unhelpful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Lowe's is far from Sears. In watching what Sears/Kmart has done since the merger was the most epic and disgusting blood letting of a business ever. I've yet to see one KMart or Sears sell their property, they just remain empty and when they have to pay Eddie back for his loans, guess what happens to the land. Happily, the value of the land has dropped significantly because of the demise of the mall. Ironic that the mail-order pioneer could have had the foresight to do what Amazon did (when they saw Amazon start to grow) and could have been the pioneer to online retail. Sadly a blood sucker bought the company. 

 

Lowe's looks to be fine BUT HD is leaning on them hard with the new Stanley deal taking it out of Lowe's. They'll be devoting a huge area to Craftsman and a lot of their success will be with how the new Craftsman is received. I think most "in the know" don't really care right now...but SBD seems to be leaning hard on tool reviewers and reality show builders to sing their praises.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 months later...

We have two Home Depot’s and two Lowe’s here, one of each on the west side about half a mile apart and one of each on the east side about two miles apart. The east side of town is much busier and the Lowe’s there is terrible. I drive past it close to 5 days a week to get to Home Depot, where I spend roughly $1,000 a week. 

 

It it seems like Home Depot gets to pick all of the better products to carry (Diablo blades, Spax screws, Custom thinset and grout, not to mention the other inventory and employees.)

 

I can walk into Lowe’s to grab a box of #10 x 1” pan head sheet metal screws and they will be out of them. I always walk out cursing. Their employees are 90% heavyset black women who view customers as an inconvenience, and I have nothing again black people or women. 

 

If if I were Lowe’s, I’d be popping stores up in more rural areas where Home Depot is a hike, rather than trying to go head to head with them. 

 

Sadly, the Home Depot on our side of town has recently been dropping the ball regularly as well. They seem to stock the shelves at 9 am on Mondays which is when most of the contractors buy materials, and have to wait on aisles closed off with forklifts. It’s common to see only one lane of the pro/lumberyard checkout open, with 6-10 guys waiting in line, and their lumber selection has gone from average to piss poor over the last 12 months while prices have gone up 10-20%.

 

I buy all my trim from a local lumberyard, but I asked them and they aren’t interested in carrying cabinet/finish grade plywood besides their birch which has paper thin veneers and warps as soon as you rip a sheet. Truly quality plywood is running $80-$85/sheet compared to the $36/sheet I’m currently paying. Customers started balking a bit the last time I raised my prices, not sure what I’m going to do. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

First off it seems counterintuitive but ever noticed that gas stations tend to be placed all on the same corners, and drug stores too? There is something psychological that when you place a competing store next door, people associate that situation with getting the best prices, biggest selection, going to get "construction stuff", etc. They get more business total (The pie grows) even though you'd think convenience rules.

This is no joke I'd agree that overall Lowe's is more consumer oriented in terms of product line. If my wife needs to pick out a light fixture, Lowe's is probably the better choice. But when it comes to electrical parts to install the fixture, never mind tools, Home Depot in general has them beat hands down.

As to management, Lowe's and Home Depot have a problem there. In North Carolina at one time we had almost as many Home Depots as Lowe's. Can't blame them entirely not saturating the area since Lowe's headquarters is in Charlotte. BUT hands down the inventory manager was a total idiot locally. ALL of the Home Depot stores East of I-95 were consistently out of stock all over the place. They carried what I wanted but I'd have to order it or wait for restocking. It was so frustrating having to drive to the Lowe's over and over that eventually I stopped going there apparently like everybody else. They closed every Home Depot East of I-95 claiming they couldn't compete. In reality it was all because of poor management.

Sure they probably "saved" money by keeping inventories low but it cost them customers and eventually their jobs.

Sent from my SM-T350 using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Member Statistics

    18,156
    Total Members
    6,555
    Most Online
    Ballen1114
    Newest Member
    Ballen1114
    Joined
×
×
  • Create New...